Maiden Voyage: Bootstrap and Jack
by LaTessa
Summary: Just what did happen before the Curse of the Black Pearl? A pre-quel to the exciting story of Jack Sparrow and the cursed pirates who marooned him.
1. Default Chapter

Maiden Voyage: Bootstrap and Jack 

_ Chapter One_

It was a calm day on Tortuga. No cuttings, no brawls, no catfights. Bootstrap Bill Turner lifted his head up out of the muck. How long had he lain there? No matter.He sat up and looked around. Why was it so quiet today? Normally when he arose from one of those run soaked slumbers he found himself amongst heaps of bodies. Some would be dead...some alive...barely. Others would be like him, unawares of what had happened in the prior blackout.  
Not today, though. Today it was as if he wasn't even in Tortuga. It was as if he was back home in London there under that quiet sky dotted with large and creamy clouds. When it was quiet like this he could remember his home.  
It was on a day like this one that he told his wife, Chandra, that he would be leaving on a merchant ship. He'd promised her that this voyage would bring about enough money for her to buy back her father's farm. The first two years of their marriage had been joyous. The last three had been plagued with the financial problems of her family when her father fell ill.  
She'd pushed aside his blonde hair and kissed him. "Oh, Bill. come back even if you don't have enough money to buy it."  
Chandra sobbed softly and looked down at their 2-year-old son. "So help me, if you don't hurry back, I'll come and drag you back by that pony tail."  
And so it was that Bill would watch her and his son shrink into the distance as he embarked on his Maiden Voyage.  
Suddenly he was drowning! What? Who? "Curse you for breathing! I'll be cutting ye where ye be standing!"  
He met with a hearty laugh and a quick hand to pull him to his feet before he could pull his knife. It was his friend Jack, back from who knew where. Bill had become his fast friend under dire circumstances.

"Jack! Where ye been man?"  
Jack was nursing a wound on his forearm. "Now, Bill, there you go, fretting like a woman. Haven't you learned yet that no man knows where Jack Sparrow roams?"  
Bill was all wet now. And even though he was living in these conditions, he still maintained an Englishman's penchant for cleanliness...at least most days.  
"Jack, I'm going to find some dry clothes and a bath, lets walk."  
"That suits me just fine, Bill, as I'll be wanting to tell you about my latest venture. A venture that will make us so rich we'll never to work again."  
Ah, Jack, what now? I really need to find a ship that will pay me enough to sail home. I've not heard from Chandra or my boy in a year. I worry."  
Jack's eye's softed in that way that they did when he could feel another's pain. They quickly steeled though.  
"Bill, word is that there is an island with gold a plenty. But it can only be found by those who already knows where 'tis. I aim to get me a ship, a crew and that treasure. When I do I will be the most feared pirate in the entire Caribbean."  
"Pirate," Bill flinched, "I hate the word."  
You be hating the word, Bill, but that's what you be." spouted Jack.  
"No!" Bill stopped in his steps...balling up his fists and shaking them at his friend.  
"I'll never be that. What I be is a man in desperate times. A man doing what he must to make his way back to his kin."  
Sensing his friend's mounting dispair, Jack eased back, lighting his pipe and plopping on a cat house step.  
"Bill, you know I admire a person who does what is necessary. Besides, you're one of the best pirates I know. Good to the code you are...but you are a pirate."  
Bill dropped his head and squatted to the ground beside Jack. "But it didn't start out that way. I came out on these waters with the best of intentions."  
Jack gleamed an evil smile. "And you know what they say about intentions, Mate, and the roads they pave."  
"Yeah, Jack, I know." Bill stood up straight and rubbed his brow. "Where's me hammock? he asked and half declared. "I need sleep unencumbered by strong drink, when I come off a drunk I'm just as tired as when I first went to sleep."  
Jack popped up off the step.He was spry. His neat and masculine body tight and tan. His hair black like the night...his eyes piercing. Women found them hypnotic. Men found those same eyes menacing.  
"We'll talk later,then, when his majesty is feeling better, eh?"  
Bill always hated it when Jack talked to him like that.  
Jack hated it when Bill whined and felt sorry for himself."He's had it too good in his life,"thought Jack,"privilege,it is the downfall of many men. I'll not have that problem to blame for me faults. I've already started the living without it."  
Indeed he had. Jack was one of the young Buccaneers who made his life in Tortuga. Sometimes privateers and sometimes pirates, they lived in a community full of vices. Jack had been living here...If you could all it that... for 15 years already. It didn't begin in Tortuga but had ended up here. A youngster on board the HMS Victorious he and his ran afoul of French privateers. Jack was on watch when the attack took place. He blamed himself for being slow to beat quarters.  
No matter. They were defeated and imprisoned. Officers all died rather than turn. But it was his own captain who said..."Now, Jonathon Sparks...you are a fine officer. But I tell you this,keep your life. Don't die for God and Country like I am about to do. God and Country cannot save you out here in the graveyard of the sea." And then he put his hand on 10 year old Jack's head, "No matter what flag you fly under make a difference."  
And when it was done, he was the sole survivor of the HMS Victorious. Them what had looted,burned, and murdered took him in. They taught him what they knew of the sea and of privateering. At first it was a bizarre existence and then Jack could remember nothing else and no other life before this one. And now as he stared into the sun he thought, "No need remebering the past it can't save you today...Bill would be best to be realizing that, now."  
Bill, meantime had, other things to worry with. It would seem that he'd spent all of his money in the preceding rum fest...included in that money was what he owed his landlady, Miss Tiabelle Humbly. And Mizz Tia wouldn't be hearing that today. Bill eased up the back stairs and was given away by a squeak and a crack.  
"Beel, is dat you sneakin' up me' back stair?" Mizz Tia bellowed.  
"Yeah, Mizz Tia." Bill cowered.  
"Beel, ya knows ya owes me de coin for dis week..and las' week...and de week befo' dat!"  
Suddenly she was at the top of the stairs lumbering over Bill, who by comparison was taller but not weighing so much more.  
"I know Mizz Tia, but I...I..." he stammered. What could he tell her this time? He'd promised to do better. He'd promised he'd get some work. He'd told her how he'd planned to start chopping trees if he couldn't sail off soon.  
He climbed a little more half expecting her to throw him back down. She'd done it before and today would be no different. When this mulatto-French woman was angry, her wrath didn't stop short of her tongue. She was a sturdy one. A face so handsome and a physique that was stronger than many men. Her hair slicked back and rarely did she fuss with ribbons. Mizz Tia didn't have time for that. Bill knew if she got hold to him he was done...so he backed down and then all at once stumbled. Off he went tumbling!"  
"Oh, Beel, ya done stumbled over that stupid bootstrap agin!"She laughed. She came to the bottom of the landing and helped him to his feet.  
"Up with ya now! Ya needs new boots, mon! Good I don't depend on rent to eat! Starve waiting on you to sail and bring back a decent booty. Ya need new boots, Beel."  
As she hauled him up to his room...Bill could only mumble, "Can't take these boots off...my Chandra...she gave 'em to me...bad bootstrap and all."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The settlement was small with only 300 souls at any one time occupying its confines. Buccaneers doing only one of three things at any one time...drinking, partaking of pleasurable company, or preparing to go after booty. Much depended on the information that was available. Much also depended on if you could get a letter of commission from the Governor of either the French of English colonies. The French were more generous than the English. All that they demanded was that you steal from ships under a certain color. Bring them down and you could claim ship and booty.  
Of course, pirating was much easier. You answered to no one, you owed no alliances. And since the French, English and Spanish were at each other's throats, there was no real way to tell who did the deed unless you left witnesses. Easily remedied.  
Jack would have no problem getting a few more cremembers since he already had a ship. A detail he failed to share with Bill. And a beauty she was, too. She was a dark and fearful thing. Sails meters tall and sweeps to boot. Jack was rowing out to her now. A gem she was...a pearl so rare. "The Black Pearl...that's what I'll call her...for she is a dark and beautiful woman." He thought out loud.  
"Captain Sparrow...how much longer before we set out after this treasure of yours" said this one as he immediately hit the deck off one of Jack's back hands.  
"Watch your mouth, vermin! Lest I cut it away from the rest of your face. We'll be off soon enough. I have some more hands to bring aboard."Snapped Jack  
"And then,sir, then will we be off to this Ilsa de Muerta?" asked the brave one again.  
"Yeah, we'll be off...now out of my sight! I grow weary of your questions!" and Jack continued to his cabin. He liked this man's guts. He needed men like him to steel the crew. But it was Bill he wanted as his First Mate. It was Bill whom he could trust. Jack was in his cabin now. Feet on his table biting into an apple. "Not only do I want you Bootstrap, but you'll be wanting what I have to offer. Gold a plenty, Mate."  
Next morning at the Inn, Bill couldn't believe his ears.  
"A Ship?What do you mean a ship?" He was nearly choking on his food.  
"A ship I say!" said the other man "and he's still looking for a crew to man it."  
Bill realized that Jack wasn't kidding! He wasn't after an ordinary booty.; he was after a King's ransom! Bill had to be a part of it.   
"Where be Jack?" said Bill rising from his seat.  
"Why, right here," answered Jack wryly.  
"Jack!" and Bill grabbed him around the shoulders.  
"Whoa, Bill, we're friends but...I woo female things that go "meow" in the night...and besides your voice is too deep, Mate!" laughed Jack. Both men laughed, then found a corner where they could hatch the plan.  
"So, Jack what is this Grand plan of yours? Where is it? Where did you get the ship?" Bill was too excited to stop.  
"Why, old' Bootstrap, I believe I see the real pirate in ye...I say pirate Bill..." teased Jack.  
"Don't taunt me Jack this is serious. And if the prize is what I hope it is you can call me Henry Morgan, lord of the pirtes!" Bill returned.  
The grand plan is to be richer than you could ever imagine, where it is only I can tell, and where I got the ship...no man will ever know, savvy?" said Jack.  
"Take me with you, Jack. I want to go with you." Bill declared.   
"Bill," and Jack leaned forward, "I'll be needing someone to trust out there..."  
And now it was time for Bill to taunt, "Oooh, the fearsome and terrible pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow needs to have someone to trust! Really, Jack? I guess you'll be needin' somebody who'll not just stick to the code but be a loyal and honest man."  
"Right you are...because you can always depend on a dishonest man to be dishonest..but you never can tell what an honest man will do. Nonetheless, I want you to be me First Mate, savvy? Do we have an accord?" and he reached out his hand.  
"We do..." and Bill took his hand and began to shake it briskly, "We do indeed!"

Bill rushed away from the Inn and up the path toward Mizz Tia's. He was glad that at last he'd have a chance to earn his monies to make it back to England. Out here in this God-forsaken spit of land, he missed the finer things that he so enjoyed. It wasn't like he was a blue blood, but he and Chandra had always seemed to manage at least a few nice things along the way. Who knows? If this booty is really as rich as Jack says then, he'll be able to keep his promise and buy back Chandra's family farm. But then again, first things first. This won't be easy. Things concerning Jack Sparrow never are. Bill still wanted to know just how did Jack come across a ship and what would it cost in the end?  
  
Actually, Jack was feeling quite pleased with himself. It was rather brilliant, the way he escaped those East India Trading agents and took their ship to boot. He'd been captured while laying in a cathouse with one of his regular wenches. Exactly who told that he was in the settlement is not clear, but at any rate it meant his neck. When you were a pirate there was no trial there was just rope. Just rope and no formality. No formality and no jail. Since they had Jack hemmed up in a cathouse a few of them sought to enjoy the dainties on display. That leaving Jack tied in a backroom with the rum. Jack's wench, still stinging after not being able to complete her romp, convinced her cohorts to distract the agents. Whilst the agents, seven in all, enjoyed the pleasures Jack crawled between the bar room tables. Just short of his last few feet to the door one agent emerged to have more drink. Jack's wench, ever so quick and nimble, dashed to where Jack was, lifted her skirt and covered Jack with it. So there was Jack, in hiding in a place to be envied by most men. "Odd," he thought "if I had time I could explore this issue a bit more."  
"You, wench..." and suddenly they stopped moving, Jack nearly running forward into her rear.  
"Me, sir?" she asked  
"Yes, you," It was the agent. "Aren't you the one who was with that Sparrow?"  
"Why, yes, sir I was."  
"And, I suspect you are a bit angry that we stopped all that." He moved toward her. "You know, women like you need to be satisfied. I could finish what he didn't...I suspect he wasn't even near the man I am."  
"Why, no sir, I doubt it too...oooh!" and she jumped a little, a stab in an unmentionable place from beneath "...but then again, sir, its.aahh.hard to say."("Jack should stop that..."she thought "Not now...not now".)  
"My dear, are you feeling alright?"  
"Fine...I need air...g'day to you." And she moved quickly through the door.   
"I shall call upon you tonight..." said the agent and then remarking to a man sitting near by "...a comely wench but quite broad on the stern, did you see her skirt?"  
Once out and into the bushes, Jack cleared him self of the petticoats.   
"Thank you. I shall not forget this darling," said Jack.  
"I should hope not! Will you be coming back 'ere?" she asked  
"Don't know, darling. Before I can come back I'll have to leave first. I need to commandeer a ship." And as he looked up and into the bay...he saw the object that would forever change him. "That ship." He said pointing at a beautiful dark Cog.  
"That ship? That ship belongs to the agents." She gasped. "Jack you'll be killed!" she whimpered.  
"Woman, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy? Fortune shines on me. Just look how it has worked out so far?" he pulled her close, "I'm free and now I need freedom. That beautiful thing out there is freedom."   
"And me? What am I?" she asked.  
"You, m'dear," and he released her, reached into his pocket and flipped her a coin, "are needing to be paid!"  
The coin hit the dirt. "Its alright," she said leaning over, picking up the coin and handing it back to Jack, "you didn't finish." She was dejected. Walking away her back to him she said, "I don't think you even remember my name."  
"Its Margarite...and it's a name I won't soon be forgetting," he said  
Margarite turned quickly to look at him in amazement, but he wasn't there. He was already gone. And where the one coin had landed in the dirt, there was now a small bag. She picked it up and it was full of coins enough that she could not work for a month.  
"And I won't ever forget you Jack Sparrow. I won't ever forget you."   
  
Jack was off like a flash from a Long Nine. First he into the water up to his waist, then a small boat there. He rowed calmly to the ship. There was no alarm raised because...well Margarite's girls really knew their crafts. Once to the ship there was only a skeleton crew . The rest were on shore at the various settlements around that island. Jack had two knives. He pitched first one and then the other into the side of the ship pulling himself up with each thrust until he reached the railing. He crouched awhile, some to recover and some to evaluate the situation. Nightfall had come so he eased onto the deck. All at once he heard voices. It was the merchant sailors talking. At first Jack thought he'd been discovered and then realized they were excited about something else.  
A map...he heard them say, a treasure worth 10 kings ransoms, an island...the island of the dead, Ilsa de Muerta...Jack's curiosity and greed got the better of him.  
"The bearings aren't written here." Said the first  
"No, but that old slave he knows, Mate...I'll get him to say if I have to cut it out of him." Said the second.  
"Where is he now?" asked the first  
"In the brig with them pirates we picked up during the attack." Said the second.  
Jack drew closer and sank back into the shadows. One of the men disappeared and he watched as the one who'd been talking about the map held it near a lamp. Jack would have to kill him to get it. Oh well, he would have to kill him anyway to get the ship. No worries. The other sailor brought up a black man. He was broken and beaten already.  
"See here, lad," began the first dancing his knife around the man's neck, "we know that you can tell us about the island of the dead, where is it now... Isla de Muerta?"  
The man bucked and a muffled sound came out... "No, no, no...I cannot tell you." He was speaking French and Jack could understand him.   
"Listen," and the first sailor drew closer to the man who was shaking, "I can't understand that gibberish! " He turned to his cohort. "We'll have to get someone who can speak French!"  
"We can trust no one!" said the other sailor  
"We have no choice! Get the cook, he can speak to these slaves." Said the sailor with the map.  
And the man once again disappeared. The slave began to sing:  
"In the place most forgotten where the moon smiles,  
Travel 2 days and 200 miles,  
Once at the end turn to the North Star,  
Take you no compass or you will go too far,  
When you reach the place nearly,  
Hold your life dearly,  
When you can smell death and rot,  
You'll know that you've got,  
Only but coast along,  
Waiting to hear the mermaid's song,  
The silence will scream at you,  
The dead will scream for you,  
There you will find the curse, the cursed,  
And that what belongs to those who will be cursed."  
  
Jack was good at songs. He remembered them well. Used to sing when he was a boy. Jack began to sing along silently with the slave. For these were the bearings to the island. Now Jack had them and no one else. He'd have to keep it that way.  
  
"What's taking them so long?" asked the sailor "Stop the singing you heathen."  
And then Jack heard the other sailor and the cook approaching. He'd have to stop them but without a fuss. How to do it? All at once, one set of footsteps seemed to turn and go back and the other sailor materialized alone once more.  
"What happened?" asked his friend  
"He had to check on his dinner for the Captain. Says they'll be back anytime and he's having a special treat." Said the sailor.  
Jack seized the opportunity! Throwing a bucket past the sailors and over the rail into the water.  
"What's that?" asked the first and both started to move toward the railing. They drew their guns. As they did the most reckless thing...look over the rail. Jack, knife in each hand, stabbed them both in the back simultaneously and pushed them over into the blackness. He turned to the slave, who was smiling now.  
"Your name?" demanded Jack in French  
"Okowabi." Said the slave  
"Why are you smiling?" asked Jack  
"Because, now you own the curse, the cursed, and those who will be cursed." Said Okowabi  
Jack looked over and saw that the map was still by the lamp. He picked it up and put in his coat. He reached for the slave,  
"No, Mate, I'll still be needing you to lead me to the island."  
"No, you own the curse now, I am done. You have heard the song, for this island can only be found by those who already know where it is. You will know it when you are near it. It will call you...." Said Okowabi  
What nonsense was this man talking? Too much heat, too many beatings? With that the slave broke from Jack with sudden strength and vigor. His eyes shining in the moonlight. Jack stood there amazed and for some reason unable to move.  
"I am free and this ship is my freedom, Jack Sparrow. And now she is bound to you." He said in English and then he was gone off the railing and into the night...but yet Jack heard no splash.  
Jack's feet were free now he ran to the railing and there was no trace of Okowabi.  
"I'll be needing some rum after this." Said Jack aloud.  
No time to think. Jack heard the cook coming and pulled away. The cook was calling for the sailors. They weren't answering. Jack made his way to the brig. There weren't many sailors on board and so this could be easy. Once there he cut the throat of the mate with the key. The men in the brig cried out in a cheer.  
"You men! Do you want to sail under my command? I'm taking this ship and going after a treasure that is a King's ransom. What say you?" called out Jack in his strongest voice.  
"Yeah!!!" said the men in one voice.  
Jack opened the doors and every man advanced overtaking the skeleton crew and cutting loose to set sail. The sails on the ship were black. Those who fit her thought it made for a harder nighttime target. They were right.  
"Douse all lights!" called Jack, "Let her be dark!"  
And it was done. The ship pulled away with the crew dumping bodies as they sailed. Jack took off his hat and bowed slightly. Sometimes you just had to kill. Before anyone could miss them...ship and crew were off. Jack turned to one mate:  
"We'll need to make time. Make cry but make her fast."  
"Roll out the sweeps" said the crewman to the others.  
"Sweeps!?" said Jack  
"Yeah, she be having 2 banks good for 20 hands." Said the crewman.  
Jack turned sour almost evil at once, "Captain to you, dog," and he pulled his gun, "I'll be sir to you, Captain to you, Lord to you on this water, savvy?"  
"Yes, captain," said the man almost spitting it out. "Sir, what is your name that I might tell the men." He asked.  
Jack turned and grinned that evil smile. "Tell them I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"So, Beel, will ya be comin' back to da' island?" asked Mizz Tia. She was as excited for the voyage as Bootstrap Bill was himself. She hurried back and forth helping to gather the things she thought he needed for the trip. And just as quickly as she would drop something in his footlocker, he'd take it out and put it back on the floor.   
"I'll be back to pay you Mizz Tia and to say goodbye." Bill was excited, too. But with the level of risk, he best not take every thing precious. He'd already lost so much on other voyages.  
"Mizz Tia, keep these things for me," he pointed to those items he'd put out of the locker, "the address in London is in this box," he opened a small music box with a dancing horse, "It is my Chandra's she gave it to me so that I could..." he choked some.  
Mizz Tia grabbed the box from him, "Here boy, let me have dat." She hated emotions they did no one any good. "I'll keep de pretty thing and the other stuff for ya'and if ya don't come back I'll be sending it to your wife and son. But, Beel, you will come back. "   
"How do you know?" he challenged her.  
"Because, mon, I has dreams. If you weren't to come back, I'd seen it. It is as sure as the sun is bright, Mizz Tia, she has da vision, mon." she boasted.  
Bill wondered for a moment. Even if the woman had seen something he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Because as badly as he needed this money, he'd go anyway. Mizz Tia turned away from him as she talked. She hoped her bluff had worked. She didn't want to tell him that she had seen the future and it looked black. She'd seen him get the booty all right, but then it was all confused. But she couldn't tell him. Bootstrap Bill hadn't had any good luck in a long time. Maybe this time she was wrong. But she'd never been wrong before.   
Bill, gave quick goodbyes to Mizz Tia. And he was off down the path to the dock. He looked back once and waved and then he was gone. Mizz Tia fought back a tear. "Damned emotions never helped nobody!" she said to herself.  
On the dock there were a few other men that Jack had picked for the venture. Bill knew none of them but they knew each other. A boat from the ship was there to get them. As they were rowing along he heard the others talking about this ship they were to sail on. They talked of how it was large and dark. They talked about the captain. They said this "Captain Jack Sparrow" had escaped from under watch of seven East India agents. Bill laughed to himself. They couldn't be talking about Jack. Jack often stumbled and bumbled along, too drunk to get much done. He was a good pirate, if one could be that. He was a skillful and masterful seaman, an excellent navigator, and a cunning thief. He was also a man who never operated without backdoors. If Jack had escaped it was either preparedness or luck of both.  
Bill was pondering his thoughts when one of the men stood up in the boat, pointing his eyes wide.  
"Look at it!" he said. And the others all began to talk at once. Bill turned to look behind him and lost his breath. The ship. It was large and black with black sails as well. "Oh, my God, Jack what are you getting us into?" he thought.  
They pulled along side and commenced to board her. Once on deck they were all about looking at her. Each man stroking her rails and touching the masts. Touching her like she was a living breathing woman. And then the voice that stopped them boomed from above.  
"Attention you scandalous dogs! Stand about! The captain is talking now!" and the form that matched the voice was suddenly there. A leather hat, a long captain's coat, a walking stick. It was Jack. But not the Jack that Bill knew. This man was totally in command.  
"We'll be shoving off tonight." Jack, teetered just a little. This was the Jack Bill knew, full of rum no doubt. "We'll be making way for the biggest booty you've ever known. Everything an equal share!" A shout went up from the deck. "But before we shove off tonight, I'll be christening...if you can call it that...this fine lady what we'll be riding on..." Jack called from behind him for a bottle of rum. "Now, once upon a time 'twas the blood of the beaten what sent a ship forward. Gents, we were the beaten. The slaves what harvested the cane to make this here rum was the beaten. They was beaten till they rose up against their masters. So today on behalf of us what's been hanged and beaten I uses this rum..." walking over to the rail of the beauty and raising the bottle, "I call her precious, I call her gem, long may she sail The Black Pearl!" and he cracked the bottle open sending the rum everywhere.  
"Hiza!" yelled the men. And the rum began to pour. "This captain, I might like him" Bill heard one man say. "Yeah, an equal share, I like that!" said another. Jack was a fair man and that could work to his advantage thought Bill and then Jack spoke again.  
"Gents, I'll have you meet me first mate now." He motioned to Bill to come forward. Up until now, he hadn't even acknowledged that Bill was on board. "This here is Bootstrap Bill and he's the first mate. You're talking to him...you're talking to me, savvy?" Jack asked  
"Aye, sir!" said the men all at once. But one man wasn't so happy about it. The mate who'd been doing that job since Jack picked him up at a settlement on the way. His name, Francisco Barboosa, and he was an ambitious man.  
"So this is who he chooses?" hissed Barboosa to one of his friends.   
"Kind of puts a wrinkle in ya plan, don't it Barboosa?" returned the man  
"Just a bit. I'll just have to find a way to usurp this "Bootstrap Bill". He must know the man, that being so, I'll have to find a way to break up this fine friendship. Jack, Jack, you need to learn that pirates with big treasures...don't have friends." And he laughed. Then he turned to his cohort. "Use your skills to find the worst of the bunch in these sailors. I want to know who to call on when the time comes. Tell em' the fewer there are the more booty they'll be. That will convince the greedy ones to kill others." He said.  
And the sailor nodded and was off to begin the dirty work.  
"Now, to undo this bond between men." Thought Barboosa and he walked down below.  
  
Bill went to the captain's quarters and knocked. "Who?" asked Jack "The first mate, Captain Sparrow." Answered Bill. Bill would be formal. He had to give the example to keep discipline. "Come." Jack answered.  
"Captain Sparrow," and Bill removed his cap, "we're ready to make way, sir."  
Jack turned to Bill his hat a bit tilted to the side and slurring his words some. "Make way then!" and as he threw his hand in gesture he fell flat.  
Bill hurried to assist him to his feet. "Captain, the men sir, you must maintain your best face, sir." Said Bill.  
"Oh Hell, Bill, we're pirates not the King's Navy! Pirates, my man, get drunk and stay drunk." Said Jack.  
"Captain, Jack, you need to be careful because they...we are pirates." Bill answered gently. Jack looked up, stood firmly and wiped his mustache. "So right you are, first mate. Prepare to make way and I'll be up momen...momen...in a minute." Slurred Jack and then he said. "Wait Bill." Jack reached around and gave Bill a pistol. "You'll be needing this. Remember Bill a firm hand." Jack warned. And Bill walked out leaving Jack to recover from his rum romance.  
"Make way...you scabs on a whore's ass!" yelled Bill, and the men began to scurry with all haste. As the sails let fly Bill was impressed once again with the blackness of them. There was something wicked about the look of the Pearl. Guns galore and sweeps, too. The sweeps, oars, were an extraordinary addition. These types of improvements were being done regularly by the East India trading companies in England and France. Causing the dressed up Cogs to be titled East Indiamen. They were fast and armed to the teeth. All extra space was for the cargo. The Pearl was large enough. The way that Jack was putting this treasure they'd need all the room they could get.  
By now Jack, making and imposing figure, was on the deck looking through his glass at the horizon. "Head due east." He said to the mate on the wheel.  
"Where we heading to, sir?" asked the man  
"You'll know when you get there," answered Jack.  
The wind was in their favor. The Black Pearl was sailing as if she were flying on wings. Some of the waters were rough and crew was vomiting, if they were lucky. If they weren't they found themselves in a filthy way. Life on board ship was not at all glamorous. If a man was in good health when he got on board he was in poor health when he got off. If he was in poor health he was probably dead or wishing he were when the voyage was over.  
The seas tossed the Pearl for a day and then a mate sited a ship. "Ship Ahoy, sir" he yelled to whoever could hear.  
"We'll be taking her" yelled Jack as an order to all hands. Bill dashed up to him; this wasn't really what they had to do. "Jack," he whispered to him "Must we? Can't you pass her by?" he asked.   
"Bill," and Jack looked at him sternly "We're pirates. We plunder. That is how we get our supplies. Or do you think we ought to just ask her to share her livestock and rum with us? Look I know that you hate this. I understand why. But," and he turned toward Bill and drew closer "you didn't cause the capture and sinking of your merchant ship back then just like the man who's on watch now isn't the cause of this."  
"But, Jack..." and Bill drew even closer to him "who will save that man when the murdering starts? We can't take them on board there's no room. Just like there was only room for a few when you saved me back then."  
"I guess that they'll just have to die, Bill. Its nasty business. But this is the business that we are in. If you can't stand the blood then perhaps I have the wrong man as my first mate." Said Jack   
"No, Jack you have the right man. You can count on me." Snapped Bill walking away.  
Jack didn't know how much longer he could stand this with Bill. When was he going to get it that this wasn't a merchant sailing expedition. It was a pirates' venture. Jack worried that soon some of these cutthroats would see Bill's underbelly and slice into it. Jack couldn't afford to show weakness. "Oh, Bootstrap, I hope that I don't have to kill you." Thought Jack. Jack was in too far now. If anyone got in his way he'd do what was necessary.  
Bootstrap would go along with this only to stop Jack from hurting those sailors. "I won't let them die just for a bottle of rum." He thought. "Jack is out or his mind! He knows that I won't allow it. After all, killing for no reason is a waste. Jack knows that! What is happening to him? He acts like a man possessed."  
"Douse the lights!" yelled Jack "She'll never know what's coming, will she my darling?" said Jack talking to the ship and stroking a rail at the same time. "Make ready the guns and roll out the sweeps! You sailors," and he pointed to a disorganized bunch, "ready to board her and put down any in your way."  
The Pearl was in flight and in what seemed like only minutes she was close enough to strike. It was black as night could be. The moon hid itself almost as if assisting Jack in his quest. Jack was always lucky that way. Jack could see her lights and when he was close enough gave the order: "Fire!" he yelled  
The Black Pearl exploded with the power of a virgin in her first orgasm. One gun after another firing off in a symphony of destruction. The other ship never had a chance. An attack at night like this one was unheard of and before she could even raise the alarm she was done. The Pearl pulled close:  
"Board her!" yelled Jack  
"I'll go with them, sir." And the voice from behind Jack was his first mate. Jack stared at Bill hard. It was proper. The captain should stay on board of his ship. "Go then!" and he waved him on.  
Once on board the ship Bill saw that many were dead. They were men and boys. It tugged at Bill's heart. Which one of these could be his son, Will. Some were injured; Bill knew he could not help these. But in the hold were a few who squirmished with the boarding pirates. For them there might be hope.  
"Drop your weapons for you are had." Yelled Bill to the defeated sailors. They did as they were commanded. "Where is your captain?" asked Bill to anyone who might answer.  
"I am here, you pig!" and a man stepped forward. Older and stouter, he was a merchant sailor who by all looks at seen many voyages like this one. But no doubt not one that would end this way. Before Bill could make his way to him one of the pirates just shot him in the head.   
"Who you calling' a pig, mate?" said the pirate and there was a burst of laughter. Bill was mortified but he dare not let them know it. He pulled his pistol and put it to the head of the man who did the deed:   
"Kill another and I'll feed your sorry carcass to the sharks, savvy?" said Bill. The man answered calmly turning to face the pistol, the barrel now resting between his eyes. He looked at Bill almost daring him.  
"The captain said to fall any in our way. He was in our way." He said.   
"He could have given us information. You just killed that." Bill pressed the pistol against his head.  
"Sorry, sir." Said the pirate and he stepped back. Bill now looking around saw that there were just a few sailors left alive from the conquered crew.  
"We'll load supplies at sun up. Put these remaining men in the brig until morning." Bill ordered.  
There was some livestock on board best move them during the light. Besides, Bill needed to have time to figure a way out for the remaining sailors. He just couldn't let them be hanged from the mizzenmast for no other reason than to entertain the blood thirst of these men. He had to save them. Unfortunately, he'd have no help from the man who saved him from that fate.  
"Jack, what's happened to you? You can't let this happen." Thought Bill. But he wouldn't take a chance. Like it or not Jack Sparrow wouldn't make a name as a butcher on this bunch.  
Jack was looking through his glass and could see only a little. A mate had scurried back to the Pearl to tell that they would move the supplies to the ship at sun up. That was a good idea. Jack had no problem with that the captain had been killed...expected. Bootstrap had stopped all killing also expected.  
"Tell the first mate that they are to hang all survivors in the brig and prepare to sink the ship right after sunrise." Said Jack to the messenger. "Those are my orders!" he snapped. Jack would need another bottle of rum. These were hard orders even for him. But it was better to kill them. These were heathens and the things they could do to men in defeat were horrible even to Jack. "Better to kill them. Especially the boys. I'd rather see them dead."


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

As the messenger prepared to shimmy across the gangplank to deliver Jack's orders he felt a stab of pain as he succumbed to Barboosa's blade. "Now easy boy." He said easing the mate to the deck. "I'll be delivering orders from here on out." And he pulled the man's body to the rail and sent it plunging into the water. "There!" he said cheerfully "I'll just be takin' ye place as messenger that's all."  
Bill was guarding the prisoners. He couldn't trust these bloodthirsty pirates. They'd kill them for sport if he'd close his eyes. But what of the morning? Would they swing from a mizzenmast? It was the way of the code. "Leave no signs or traces, lest the company be detected. Any man caught doing this shall be whipped with a cat o' nine tails." It read. Bill knew the Holy Thirteen or the Pirate's Code better than any man. He also knew how to get around them. He learned from the best, Jack Sparrow. Jack was better than anyone at getting out of tight spots with the code. But of late, Bill's best example had been of dark dreams.  
Barboosa boarded the ship and went straight to the brig. "Mr. Bootstrap, I come with orders from Captain Sparrow." He said bowing with a false respect that Bill picked up on immediately.  
"What is it...er.your name, mate?" Bill asked  
"Barboosa, sir, Francisco Barboosa." He forced a smile to expose yellow and rotting teeth.  
"Continue, man." Snapped Bill  
"The captain says that you are to hang the prisoners on the mizzenmast at sunrise and blow this ship to Davie Jones Locker." He snarled and looked at the men, who all gasped in unison.  
Bill hid his disgust. "All right I have his orders." Said Bill turning away.  
"And what will be ye answer, sir?" Bill heard Barboosa ask from behind him.  
"What did you say Baboosa?" and Bill turned around slowly  
"What.... will be...ye answer?" Barboosa said slowly and deliberately.  
"Ye know Barboosa, I sense that you have something on to say...so say it." Snapped Bill.  
"Well, all need be is that there be no chance of detection. Why spill blood?" asked Barboosa  
This man was making sense. He was right. There had to be another way. Bill felt so strongly about not killing the captives until he made a mistake. He trusted Barboosa. Pausing he sent Jack a message one that would delay and probably thwart this needless murdering.  
"Parlay?" asked Jack "And whose idea, I wonder, was it to use that word?"   
Barboosa stood perfectly still on the Deck. It was sunrise and there were no sailors swinging or a ship sinking. "Well, Captain if ye don't mind me speaking frankly, sir." Barboosa began.  
"Go on Barboosa!" snapped Jack. He was wanting to hear this although he knew no man other than a pirate would ask for a Parlay.  
"Those words be given to them by our first mate, sir. He swore me not to tell you but I just couldn't break the code."Barboosa said. Indeed he was following the code in a strange sort of way. "Every man in command will maintain informants in the rank and file as to keep up his information." it read. Problem with that was just whose side the informant was on was...well up to the informant.  
Jack acted as though it didn't faze him. "Take word that the men are to be brought on board the Pearl. Not a hand to be laid on any as they are under the protection of Parlay." He said and then added. " Once all have returned prepare to sink that ship. I want no chance of detection. Get us underway right after that. We've lost too much time already." He snapped.  
"Aye, sir." Said Barboosa and he slithered away and thought, "The first nail in the coffin of this thing they call friendship. It is a thing made of trust and if Jack and Bootstrap don't have that...what will they have?" Then Jack called out to him: "Barboosa, how is it that you are the messenger? What of my man?"  
Barboosa turned and answered: "Why, the dog got into an argument with another sailor, lost his life sir. They were fighting over a bottle of rum."  
"I see." And Jack studied him from a distance. "Go on Barboosa, you are my man now, savvy?"  
"Aye, captain, aye." The trap was baited.  
Once all were on board the Pearl, the last of the sailors spilled a long line of gunpowder along the ship to her armory. There enough had been left to blow her up. The dead were left there too. A fire lit the beginning and the last of the men loaded into a boat and rowed away at all speed.  
A great explosion followed. Jack removed his hat and bowed slightly. These men were dead as a casualty of his command. Now what would he do with this bunch that were left? He turned around and looked them over. Bill, an honest man. You never knew what an honest man would do.  
Bill hoped that since he'd gotten them on board maybe Jack would find a way to let them stay. There were about twenty left. Ten of them were wounded but not badly enough to write them off. Jack began:  
"So what is the proposal under this parlay?" asked Jack  
"We want to live!" screamed out one  
"Yes, I guessed that." Said Jack wryly  
"Set us free!" screamed out another  
"And how would I be doing that, Gents? You'll surely run into His Majesty's Navy and tell them where you last saw the Pearl. We can't be having that now, can we?" asked Jack  
"But if you let them stay they'll know where the treasure is!" that from the crew  
"Surely, ye be right about that! We are at a stalemate, then!" said Jack   
The sailor who'd killed the captain of the captured ship pulled his gun and loaded it with powder and a ball:  
"Then we'll be killing them anyways, eeeh?" he said  
"Oh, no!" Bill was thinking, "I 've gotten them this far only to watch them be shot on deck?"  
"Hold there, Mate." Said Jack pulling his own gun and aiming for the sailor. "How 'bout we make this a sporting proposition, eeh? Get ye the boats and set 'em adrift. Chances are good that they'll die and become shark food." This brought a laugh from the crew.   
"But we asked you to let us live!" said one of the men.  
"Indeed you did." Answered Jack "You asked me to let you live and set you free. I'm doing both. It's just a question as to how long you'll live and how free you'll be."  
Jack knew these waters he knew if he could get these men into boats quickly they could drift from here and straight into a small settlement a day away. It would still give them plenty of time to make it away before detection.  
As the men were set in the small boat with three days food and water. The sailor who'd pulled the gun said: "I still think that we should have killed them all."  
"Agreed, this ain't with the code. I suspect that this captain don't honor it. Whose to say he'll honor it when its time to divide the treasure?" It was Barboosa  
"Ay, ye be right." Said the man  
"Tell the others they should think about it." Said Barboosa and he walked away.  
"Bill ye out maneuvered me!" shouted Jack  
"I saved those men's lives until ye could come to ye senses!" Bill shouted back  
"I am at my senses!" said Jack  
"Not when ye want to spill blood just to control a ship!" said Bill  
"I looked at every possible way to spare those men pain!" and Jack leaned forward on the table.  
"Ye didn't look hard enough! Ye wanted me to hang those men, hang them for a couple of goats and a few bottles of rum! If anyone needed a Parlay they did!" Bill was almost nose-to-nose with Jack now.  
Jack pulled his knife, "Damn it, Bill, I'll have no man undermine me not even you!" and he pointed the knife at Bill's neck.  
"Then kill me, Jack." Bill pulled the knife to his own throat "I won't be part of your needless butchery!"  
Jack withdrew; he knew he couldn't kill Bootstrap Bill. Jack just didn't have it in him.  
"Bill, what will I do with you, mate?" and Jack sank into his chair.  
Bill sank into his chair and sat back. "Bust me down, Jack. I am no first mate. Get someone else to do the job."  
Jack's eyes softened "Bill."  
"No, Jack, I'm your friend. And as you said ' you never know what an honest man will do'. As long as I live I'll be an honest man." Said Bill  
Jack nodded. He knew that Bill was right. He needed a man who could do the nasty jobs that had to be done. Bill would still be there and he could still make sure that he got his share of the treasure. He'd still be able to keep his promise to Bill.  
Back when he saved him from certain death in that attack he'd told him that one day he'd help him get back home to his wife and boy. And he'd told Bill that if he didn't survive he'd always look out for his son Will.  
Bill walked out of the Captain's cabin.  
Barboosa, who always seemed to be lurking in just the right places and always taking advantage of the opportune moment, knocked on Jack's door.   
"Who?" Jack asked  
"Barboosa." He answered  
"Come." Commanded Jack  
"What is it Barboosa?" asked Jack thinking he had further news.  
"Well, sir, the men." Began Barboosa  
"What about the men?" asked Jack  
"They're restless and frankly sir they have no confidence that the code is being honored what with those sailors being set free and all." Said Barboosa.  
Jack spoke with strength: "I make the decisions here!"  
"Do you sir or does Bootstrap Bill?" Barboosa closed his eyes in preparation for one of Jack's known backhands, but it didn't come. Barboosa opened one eye; perhaps Jack would just shoot him. Instead what he saw was Jack with two glasses and a bottle.  
"Sit down, Barboosa." He said "I'll be replacing Bootstrap with a man I think can better do the job. You."  
Barboosa sat unmoved and reached for his glass of rum. Jack continued.  
"From here on out, we'll be running this boat completely by the code, savvy?" asked Jack  
"Savvy. And when does this take effect, Jack?" he was suddenly familiar, but Jack didn't seem to mind.  
"Right now!" and he raised his glass "Take all you can...."  
Barboosa finished "....and give nothing back."  
  
Barboosa's plan was going just fine he was now in a position to be close to Jack. He didn't like him. Jack's reputation was that of a braggart and a womanizer who slipped hangman's nooses and dodged shots from angry husbands and fathers. But as to real pirating? No. Jack was always just outside the code. He often did things that smacked of fairness and humanity. Not the traits of a killer or commander. No these were the traits that Barboosa admired in himself. Barboosa would have to part him from the bearings to this treasure. How he would do it was still not clear. Jack wouldn't be sharing that with a man who he knew hated him. So Barboosa would have to impress Jack. That would be easy.  
On deck Jack called together the crew:  
"Bootstrap Bill is no longer first mate. When ye talking to Bill ye talking to Bill. It is Barboosa who is first mate. When ye talking to him, ye talking to me, savvy?" said Jack  
"Aye, Captain!" said the crew all at once. Barboosa stepped forward. He towered over Jack slightly. He had a red beard and sickly yellow in his dark eyes. Too much rum and too much living made him a wicked but not handsome sight of a man.  
"Captain Sparrow here doesn't know what I know. He don't know what pigs and liars are on this ship. But I do." Barboosa pulled out his gun and shot the sailor to his left. He continued. "Captain Sparrow doesn't know which ones of you are talking against him," and he took out his knife and threw it into the heart of the sailor to his right. "But I know. If ye didn't die just now, consider this your chance to repent!"  
Jack's eyes stretched wide. What was this? He wanted a man who wasn't afraid of killing not one that preferred it. Bill, meantime, was in the back of the crowd not quite believing what had just happened. Barboosa had been a voice of reason to him. Yet he freely spilled blood now. Bill felt sick. What was the meaning of this?  
The meaning was clear. Barboosa not only meant to impress Jack but to intimidate him. Jack was getting over his shock somewhat. He wondered if the crew could see it.  
"Good thing this mate's on my side." Thought Jack


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

They'd been enroute for two days and over 100 miles. Still his crew didn't know exactly where they were headed. They long passed the corridor that was uncharted and full of tiny islands. Now they were just in the middle of the blue waves with no direction set.  
"The crew is getting restless." Thought Bill, "Jack needs to be clear about our destination and soon."  
Some of the crew believed that the reason they were just going nowhere was because the captain had made a grave error in releasing the crew of merchant sailors and was afraid of detection. This was an idea being handily fed by Barboosa's plants. The discontent and depression could be cut with a knife. Bootstrap could see that the crew was ripe for incident. There were fights breaking out here and there on the ship.  
"I must get to Jack and talk to him." And Bill headed toward the captain's quarters. He was met though with a no so welcome committee of personal "guards".  
"What's ye pleasure, mate?" asked one big one. He seemed to tower and almost hit his head in the cramped space.  
"I'd like to talk to the captain." Said Bill.  
"Hey," said another of the men on the door, "ye be the former first mate...oh no...there'd be nothing for you to see the captain about...orders, mate, sorry." Said the man pushing Bootstrap backwards.  
"Orders from who, Damn, ye?" and Bill recovered and reached for his knife.   
The man pulled out his gun and aimed between Bill's eyes... "Now, there, there mate, you'll not be wanting to do anything like that now. Barboosa ordered it. He says that all ye needed to say was said when ye was replaced. He says the captain needs his rest 'bout now. Says that while he be plottin' the way to this treasure...if there is one...he's to have complete privacy."  
Bootstrap slowly moved his hand to show that he was no longer after his knife. He'd caught the meaning of doubt the man projected.  
"What do you mean, "If there is a treasure"?" he asked and then continued "And what if there isn't then what?"  
The men all laughed together. The one then answered and replaced his pistol.  
"Well, now that could be most unfortunate for "Captain Jack Sparrow, eeh?"   
Part of the code dictated that if the crew felt that the captain was keeping something from the company or not telling the truth about a booty they could maroon him. Basically, the captain was at the will of the crew except in times of war or battle. At which time the captain could just shoot anyone who didn't agree with him. Even with this understanding it was a captain with an iron will and quick response who would avoid such a fate. Bill feared that in Jack's constant state of rum drunkenness he might not be aware of his peril. Yet there was no way for him to warn Jack. He wasn't even sure that Jack would listen. The last time he'd seen Jack on deck was right after he named Barboosa first mate. After that, Barboosa had named a man quartermaster. A man named Bo'sun. Bo'sun was an escaped slave who was covered with tribal markings. He was mean, plain and simple. As quartermaster he had say so over all payment to the men and was to assure that all officers didn't abuse their offices. As it was Bo'sun didn't respect Jack at all and sided with Barboosa. That meant that the only officer Bo'sun was watching was the captain. It was really more like controlling Jack's moves.  
It wasn't much of a job. Jack was having a very bad time of it anyway. He was hearing voices singing to him and when he closed his eyes he was seeing all sorts of ghouls reaching for him. It was such that he constantly reached for rum and the rum was doing him no good.  
Two days they'd been out and already this voyage was falling apart. Bill could do nothing but turn and walk away. He couldn't do anything for Jack this way. As he turned he walked right into Barboosa.  
"Bootstrap Bill," Barboosa said "And what are you doing here, mate, looking to talk with ye ole' friend Jack Sparrow?"  
"That's Captain Jack Sparrow!" he spat back  
"Oh, but of course." Barboosa said and then, oddly took Bill by the arm and began to walk up on deck  
"Ye know, Bootstrap, it must be hard for you to let go of ye ole' office and ye friendship with the captain."  
"I've not let go of my friendship with the captain!" protested Bill  
"But you must!" Barboosa said with a smile "after all he did replace you."  
"I resigned, Barboosa!" Bill said lifting his head high in pride   
"Awww, but that was only just in time, Bootstrap. Jack had already approached me about taking first mate. He feared he could not trust you to do what needed to be done. And then after the merchant ship...." And Barboosa trailed off.  
  
"After the merchant ship? Barboosa, it was you who advised me. Is this the same sage advice you'll be giving to the captain? Or was this your plan all along?" accused Bill  
  
Barboosa turned nasty. "Now Bootstrap, don't let your jealousy get in the way! Keep your mouth and your head and you'll get your share. Your share to do with what you please. Believe me, Jack Sparrow is only interested in himself. And if you think differently then you are a true fool, mate."  
  
Bill kept his tongue. Barboosa could kill him or maroon him and Jack might never know what happened. But then Bill wasn't even sure Jack would care right now. He probably was all about plotting toward this treasure. Jack was a pirate. He was a pirate where Bill failed. He'd just have to bide his time and wait for the opportune moment.  
  
Jack was reading over the map. There were many notes and entries but none with exact bearing to the island. It was hard to concentrate. All Jack could hear was the constant singing and calling. He opened his cabin door and spoke to a guard there.  
"You, mate, where are we heading?" asked Jack  
"No where, we're just heading north." Answered the man  
"Steer toward the starboard!" commanded Jack. The man was off to relay the order. There was no apparent change in the feel of the ship's direction but suddenly Jack was overcome with pain. His head full of screams.  
"No! No!" and Jack went to his knees. The men outside the cabin banged on his door. Jack pulled himself up and opened it.  
"Sir! Is there someone here!" and one man came in gun drawn.  
"No!" said Jack and he touched his ear and said, "tell them to bare to the port and keep going."  
Jack didn't have to double-check the order..because..The moment it was done the voices subsided. Now once again it was just a steady and constant song and dead beckoning to where ever they were going.  
  
As Bill made his way down the deck. Barboosa stood leaning to the side and watching him until he'd disappeared. "This friendship business wasn't as easy to do away with as I'd firs thought. I've got to move faster before this "friend" messes up me plan." Barboosa thought.  
"Orders, sir?" it was Bo'sun. "...do you have orders for that one?" he asked again playing with his cutlass.  
"No, not yet. I'll be lettin' ye know when that changes. It will change." Said Barboosa as he walked away.  
  
Francisco Barboosa was born a dubious birth to an English wench and a Spanish captain. His mother was on her way to the islands as part of the effort to bring women into the colonies. The women who were chosen to come were not "good women", but rather part of the growing number of unfortunates who'd fallen on difficult times. The promise of blue skies, plenty to eat and maybe even a man to treat you well was all these women could ever want. Alas, the merchant ship fell to a Spanish attack. The women and the booty were taken to the Spanish ship. None were ever to see England again. Barboosa's mother was a portly thing, a little older than the others. But she possessed a dignity about her that did not escape the gaze of the captain. The captain, Pedro Alphonso Barboosa, was a whoremonger and man with little honor who just did hold the command by a thread on board his vessel. He took, Barboosa's mother by force even though she would have given herself to him without the violence. But still he could not conquer her.  
"What is your name, wench?" he spat at her once done.  
"Ann Parker, you dog!" she spat back...that answered with a slap across her face.  
"Don't you dare talk to me like that! I am your master, she-dog!" and he pulled her up by her hair.  
"Then we are a pair in heat...you the cur and me the she-dog... careful...I bite!" And she did...bite him on his hand.  
Ann suffered a great beating from the hands of Pedro. It was the first of many because the two would never part...becoming common law husband and wife. No one who looked upon the union could understand why Pedro continued to come back to her or why she continued to have him.   
Pedro deposited the women on an island in the Caribbean. A settlement was there and he would return to Ann and the two children she bore him. Although an unfaithful man himself, he demanded that Ann be chaste. Ann was actually a very good mother to the young Barboosa and his sister Anita. For a few years until he was eight years old things were good...until Pedro came home. Then of course there was much fighting amongst the two.  
Then one day Pedro came home and didn't leave. He was sick. His whoremongering had finally paid off. Syphilis would make him a mad man. Ann waited on him hand and foot, but alas it was she who died first of a stopped heart. With his mother dead and his father dying it was decided that his sister Anita would be sent to Spain and into a convent. He was to remain with his dog of a father. The parting with Anita was a cold one. Barboosa was angry that he had to stay. Anita was angry that she had to go. At the last the two merely stared at each other as her ship left dock.  
It wasn't long before Pedro finally gave up the ghost and Barboosa was all alone. He promised himself never to have a family or a friend. He thought God cruel to leave him this way.  
"And so you must want me only for yourself!" he said shaking his fist at the sky.  
It wasn't long after that Barboosa signed on with a clan of sailors and became a pirate. In all the long years...it is all he'd ever known. No homeport. No wife or children. Not even a common wench to await his coming. And he had no sympathy for those who let such relationships stand in their way.

Jack had his head on the table one hand poised on a half glass of rum. There was a tapping beside his head and he looked up. A woman was standing within reach of him.  
"How did you get in here?" asked Jack,too drunk to move ,to startled to want to.  
The woman put her finger to her mouth and then giggled. Jack gazed upon her and could not blink. She was beautiful. Long red hair...burning green eyes and pouting lips. She pointed to a cupboard and beckoned Jack to go into it. Jack rose from the table and opened the cupboard; there he found a compass. He looked back at the woman.  
"A compass? For what? I already have one, Love, I'll not be needing another." Said Jack  
The woman lost her smile and pointed to the compass in his hand. Indeed, her smile faded and her face became dark and slowly drawn until it became.... a skeleton's face!  
"Whoa!" and Jack woke up, "A dream!" he said to himself and was about to lift his glass to his mouth again only to find that instead of the rum to his lips it was the compass from the cupboard...that was, by the way.. open. Jack knocked the bottle of rum over as he got up from his seat.  
"Can't take much more of this bloody haunting!" he said to himself or who ever was listening. Jack opened the compass and tilted his head slightly. "It doesn't point north." And then he paused and smiled "But then I'm not going north am I?" He relaxed now, "Well, it would seem that these little ghosts or what ever they are come in right handy." Jack walked to the door taking his hat and coat and heading past his guards and up to the deck.  
"Captain!" said one man...and the others looking quite shocked.  
"Yes, it is ye captain, mate, we'll be plotting a course now." Jack walked up to the wheel and moved the mate aside. He whipped out the compass that didn't point north and began to wield his loving Black Pearl as though she were a mare in the meadows.  
Someone had summoned Barboosa who was standing next to Jack now.  
"Captain, ye know where ye be going now, sir?" asked Barboosa  
"I do! I can hear it. It calls to me, Barboosa, I know where the Isle de Muerta is and the booty she holds." Answered Jack.  
"You hear it you?" Barboosa asked and turned to look at the crew, making signs of a man gone insane.  
"Captain," and he drew closer to Jack, "You're driving yourself too hard, Mate, you speak like a man possessed. Crews don't like those kinds of captains, sir. They'll lose confidence." Hissed Barboosa   
"They won't lose confidence, Barboosa!" and then Jack paused and turned to Barboosa with that little quirky turn of the lip he made when he was knocked off balance "Will they lose confidence, Barboosa?"   
Barboosa had him where he wanted him now! "Captain, let us talk a bit." Barboosa turned and dismissed the others so that he could talk to Jack as he maneuvered the Pearl. Night was falling fast and they were coming up on their third day at sea.  
"Jack, you know everything is an equal share so the bearings to the treasure should be an equal share, too." Said Barboosa.  
Jack paused before answering, pretending that he was distracted with the sea. But really for the first time since coming into this cursed information he was clear. It was quiet in his head. Perhaps it was a clue that he should trust someone else. He waited a moment...nope...no voices. Maybe, it was right he would tell his first mate the song and lighten his burden. If he did this maybe Barboosa and the men wouldn't think he was crazy. But still Jack hesitated.  
"Barboosa, we will dine in my cabin. I will tell you what you need to know then."  
Barboosa clenched his fist. At last, he would know the bearings and then he'd not have to bow and scrape to Jack Sparrow any longer.  
"Aye, Captain, tonight say at eight?" asked Barboosa  
"That will do just fine." Said Jack as he continued to push the Pearl along the waters toward the place that only he knew how to find....but not for long.


End file.
